Basics Of Changing Your Vehicle’s Flat Tire
There are many potential causes of a flat tire. The most common is a nail or other sharp object lying in the road which punctures the tread as you drive over it. However, damage to the valve stem, vandalism, and even a traffic collision can also cause your wheel to lose most of its air. If your treads are severely worn, even relatively blunt objects can puncture them.
If you’re fortunate enough to have run-flat tires installed on your vehicle, you’ll be able to drive to an auto repair shop to have the damaged tire replaced. Otherwise, you may be forced to do the work yourself. Below, I’ll take you through the process of changing a flat tire.
First Step: The Jack
Your car should have a spare and a jack in the trunk. Many pick-up trucks and SUVs have them installed underneath the frame. Once you have retrieved them, make sure your vehicle is in “Park” and the emergency brake has been set. Before raising your car, loosen each of the lugs on the offending wheel (turn them counterclockwise). Don’t remove them; simply loosen them.
Next, place the jack under a sturdy portion of the frame and raise your car. If you’re not sure whether a particular area has enough strength, check your owner’s manual. One important note of caution: do not do this if you’re parked on an incline. Your automobile can easily move as you’re raising it.
Second Step: The Lugs
Once your car has been raised with sufficient room to take off the flat tire, you’ll need to remove the loosened lugs. Make sure that you place them in a secure area to avoid losing them. Even though each wheel has several lugs, it is unsafe to drive if even one of them is missing.
Third Step: The Replacement
Removing the offending wheel is easy with the lugs not holding it in place. Simply slide it off the supporting studs. The difficult part is aligning the replacement (the spare) on the studs. Wheels are heavy. You may find yourself struggling to lift the spare while trying to fit the studs through the right holes.
Once you have fit the studs through the holes in the spare, you’ll need to replace the lugs in order to secure the wheel. Turn each lug carefully to avoid threading issues. Also, consider replacing them in a star pattern. That is, replace the top lug first and then replace one of the bottom lugs.
After you have tightened the lugs by hand, lower your car and remove the jack. Then, tighten the lugs securely with your tire iron while your vehicle is resting on the ground. Again, follow a star pattern beginning with the topmost lug.
Keep in mind, most spares can only be driven for a limited number of miles at a reduced speed. But, even though they’re not true replacements, they’ll help you get your car back on the road to the nearest auto garage.
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Diagnosis of your “check engine” light Troubleshooting guide, when something is wrong with the car Repair guides, that give you step-by-step instructions for repairs Loan-a-tool: with a deposit, you can borrow specialty tools Vehicle testing: they will test your starter, alternator and battery for free Battery charging – and it only takes an hour Recycle motor oil and other car fluids Find out more at
It's not likely that your car will be totalled, since the insurance has already paid the prior damage.
The total repair cost needs to equal a great deal of the ACV (actual cash value) of your car…somewhere between 60 and 70 percent depending on the insurance…before they start thinking total loss.
They would do better to keep paying for repairs versus totalling, since then they would be in the hole for both. Sometimes there are hidden things that don't come to light until the vehicle is completely torn down…even the best of auto damage adjusters have made this mistake.
As long as your car is in the same condition as it was before the accident, and you are not re-registering it as salvage or junk-the cost of repairs won't change the value of the car.
If you are curious, ask the adjuster to run an ACV on the car and at what point he'd consider it a total.
Diagnosis of your “check engine” light Troubleshooting guide, when something is wrong with the car Repair guides, that give you step-by-step instructions for repairs Loan-a-tool: with a deposit, you can borrow specialty tools Vehicle testing: they will test your starter, alternator and battery for free Battery charging – and it only takes an hour Recycle motor oil and other car fluids Find out more at
Thought it was a Repair garage, damn!!! Turned out to be a Damaged foolish dishonest car repair garage!! What have you done to my PJ !!!!!